Buick Riviera Concept: Look Closely for a Peek at the Brand's Future

The greatest good is like water.

China is Buick’s biggest market, so it makes sense for the automaker to debut its latest concept at the Shanghai auto show. The resurrection of the storied Riviera name, however, caught us a bit by surprise, especially considering Buick had applied the badge to a concept car some six years ago. Designed by Shanghai GM and the GM/SAIC joint venture Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), the plug-in hybrid concept is said to be "a design study of the future expression of Buick," thereby foreshadowing the brand’s design language worldwide.

Let it Flow

GM says the team of Asia-based designers who penned the Riviera concept took inspiration from the saying “The greatest good is like water.” Although Chinese in origin, you don’t need to be a foreign-studies major to decipher how the sentiment translated into the Riviera’s sheetmetal: Simply put, it flows, and with the exception of the fender lips and a lower character line, the surface tension ebbs and swirls in a soft, fluid manner. Yet the vehicle still maintains a low-slung and sweeping presence, having more in common with the Rivs of yore than anything currently in the Buick portfolio. A refined version of Buick’s familiar waterfall grille is framed by wing-shaped daytime running lamps, which the maker says will become key elements of Buick's future design DNA.

A glass-intensive fastback design—angled at 14 degrees—balances the steeply raked windshield, and gullwing doors provide the wow factor, but don’t expect either to make the transition from show stand to production in any new Buick. Oddly, in certain specific profile views, the Riviera looks to us like a mix of 1973 Mustang fastback morphed with a current Aston Martin Vantage. Buick calls the jade-inspired monochromatic blue-green exterior finish “Ice Celadon.” Overall, the styling is a logical extension of the very similar and PATAC-designed Riviera concept from 2007.

The interior employs elegant materials such as sandblasted aluminum, lava-colored suede, and ebony in a bold style reminiscent of traditional Chinese jade-inlaid wood. Front seats that appear to float in mid-air look stylish but still can be adjusted over a wide range, and noise-cancelling headrests provide quiet comfort.

A Hybrid in the Hand Is Worth . . .

The new Riviera is equipped with GM's all-new, dual-mode W-PHEV (wireless plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) propulsion system, which allows the operator to drive in either fully electric or gas/electric hybrid modes. Charging comes by way of the usual cable—the charging port is cleverly integrated into Buick's iconic porthole design—or wirelessly via inductive charging. No specifics regarding the system have been released, but we assume the Buick’s hybrid technology builds on that of the Chevy Volt and Cadillac ELR, since the eAssist system used in the Buick Regal (and elsewhere) is far too simple. Even discounting the rest of what makes this car important, it does show that GM is hard at work on the next generation of its hybrid technologies.

Intelligent four-wheel steering, electromagnetic-controlled dampers, and air springs handle the turning and suspension duties. Ten high-resolution cameras and 18 micro high-precision sensors collect and process active-safety information, with vital details being presented to the driver via a holographic image on the windshield. All of the latest safety features are present, including night-view assist, side blind-zone alert, lane-departure warning, full-speed range-adaptive cruise control, lane-change assist, parking assist, and rear cross-traffic alert, as well as “transparent” A-pillars.

We don’t know about you, but we think it’s kind of fun to watch a homegrown entity like Buick kick so much ass on the other side of the globe. And as long as the products warrant attention—and make it back stateside—we say “Keep it up.”

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